Hopeless Love

5-Settling into Camp

     Sebastian walked out of the tent with me still curled up on his head. He walked to the edge of the salt water pool and paused, his hands in his pockets. He was thinking so I stayed silent and enjoyed the sunlight soaking into my dark fur. I was about to fall asleep when I was grabbed by gentle hands. The hands were held out flat so I stood on them and looked at Sebastian, the one holding me.
     "You are the first outsider to come here. You are the first to be allowed to stay. You realize that the way you act will affect how we treat visitors in the future, right," he asked. I nodded. I wished I could talk to him in this form but I was not telepathic. I was just small. An irritated look came onto his face. "Right," he said, "my mom hasn't connected you yet. Hold on I'll go get her." He put me down and walked off.
     He was back with Willow. No wait. Her name is Moriah. Darn it. I'll just have to keep working. He was back with Moriah after a few minutes and they stopped in front of me. They were talking.
     "Right sorry. I guess I forgot to tie her in. I'll go ahead and do that then. Just in case she needs help and she is far away." That was Moriah. Sebastian picked me up again and held me close to his chest. I snuggled into his comfortable arms. I felt something tugging at my mind. I closed my eyes.
     Sometimes I could see that landscape of my mind. This was one of those times. It looked like a plain of black grass. I stalked over to the hill that rose above the plains. Something was happening up there; the silhouette of a person was on top of it and the person was holding a giant needle and thread. I got to the bottom of the hill. The person turned and beckoned me towards the top. It was Moriah.
     I am sewing you into the pack connection. You will be able to talk to us without words and in your beastia. Her voice rang out in my head.
     Pack connection? What is that? My voice answered hers. I had never heard of this.
     Her confusion echoed throughout my mind. The...the pack connection...it allows a community to talk to each other. The only way you can talk to other communities is if you are an alpha or have an alpha's permission. If you are going to be living here permanently you will need to be part of it. For your safety and ours. We can sense the dangers of the water and help you when you are in danger. But the dangers of the land...they are hard for us to find. You have better senses than we do in that sense. Your presence in our pack connection will help everyone, Moriah explained it to me. I nodded. It made sense.
     I need your permission to sew you into the connection, She said. Permission granted, I responded. She nodded and put the thread to the air. She brought it back and put it through the air again. She kept on, sewing a circle of shimmering thread into the air. I heard voices when the cirl e was complete.
     Alpha. The water has too much algae. Mom, why do I have to eat the seaweed! Can't I just go to the dance for a few hours? The voice that stood out the most was his. Is she connected yet Mom? Jet? Are you there?
     I'm here Sebastian. I understand that I affect the way visitors will be treated in the future. I will try my best to behave, I told him. Ok. Thank you Jet. I feel like some people will be here soon. The community  will need to be able to trust them. How they are treated depends on you, he said. Now let's go get you a place to stay.
     I opened my eyes and looked at him. His beautiful crimson eyes. He smiled at me and I felt my whiskers quiver. I snuggled into his arms as he took me to the tent I had been in before.
     Do you have anything valuable that you can sell, Sebastian asked. Just my soul, I responded, laughter in my voice. He smiled and shook his head.
     A memory floated into my head. You can have these before you go. To remember us. A silver necklace with a a strange pair of figures. A fish and a cat circling each other, seen from the top. A ring of gold with a piece of malachite set into the band of gold. The malachite was shaped like the eye of a cat. It had a natural slit of darker green that looked like a pupil. I put the ring on my finger and the necklace over my head before hugging my mother and little brother. He was the only other one that didn't hate mermaids. I wanted to bring him but he was too young. I could only hope he would stay unaffected by the town's disease. I'm sorry. The last kind words she said to me. Then she shouted. Get out! Disgrace! How can you live among us when you love those abominations! Leave and never come back! Tears blurred our eyes. I turned and ran. It was a later memory now. I slid the ring off my finger and brought the necklace over my head. I had noticed a week ago that the necklace was two seperate parts. The fish had one part, the cat another. I wrapped the jewelry in a soft cloth to protect them. I put them in my bag and forgot them over time as they settled to the bottom.
     I jumped from Sebastian's arms and into the tent. I shifted to my humanaria and searched through my bag. I could hardly believe it when I found the cloth package at the bottom. I brought out the ring. It looked the same as it had all those years ago. I suddenly felt reluctant to sell it. I put the cat necklace over my head and looked at the fish necklace for a few seconds. I walked out, the ring in my right hand and the necklace in my left.
     I handed him the ring. "Sebastian. Do you think it would be possible to buy this back later. My...my mother gave it to me a long time ago. I...I don't want to sell it without knowing I can get it back," I explained, my voice quiet and shy. I had never talked about my past before.
     His voice was gentle. "I'm sure you can buy it back. In fact, there is a merchant in the sea pool who would give you money as a kind of loan and hold it for you until you could pay her back," he said.
     "But how would I earn more money," I asked.
     "Scavenging is one way. Finding interesting things in the rivers or ruins and selling them. Or learning a craft. Like weaving or pottery. Or jewelry making. You will find something," he said. I nodded.
     He took my hand when I remembered the fish necklace. "Sebastian. I...I wanted to give this to you." I handed him the necklace. "That one and mine go together. They circle each other like yin and yang and your rivers. I thought we could...I thought you would like it," I finished shyly, my cheeks warm. He thanked me and took the necklace, slipping it over his head. I blushed more as he did that. It made me feel like we were...together?
     He started leading me to the sea pool, his hand in mine. He looked at me and jumped intot he water, changing midair. He looked at me from under the water. I took a deep breath and jumped, changing into my tiny lion beastia. I paddled in the water, letting out mini roars in terror. I got the hang of how to move my legs. I followed slowly as he swam beneath the surface. We stopped at the island in the middle. I looked down and saw Sebastian talking to a fish floating behind a piece of drift wood.
     Would you be willing to be a pawn shop for a little bit Nona? My...the new visitor needs to buy a permanent tent and this is all she has to sell. She wants to buy it back later though. Her mother gave it to her before she left and started traveling. It means a lot to her and I would be indebted to you for your kindness if you could, Sebastian pleaded with the woman he called Nona.
     Of course I can. Everyone needs a little help once in a while. Let me see. The most expensive tent over there is, what, 17 cockle shells? Yea. So, I can give you, oh, 20 for it? Seems fair to me, Nona said. She put 20 little iridescent shells onto the edge of the driftwood. Sebastian scooped them into a little green bag that was the same coor as my eyes and put the ring onto the wood. Nona put it into a gold bag that matched her eyes. She had faded blue scales. She was very old, but still beautiful. Sebastian swam off around the side of the island and I followed.
     He stopped at a piece of driftwood occupied by a purple fish with silver eyes. It was surrounded by pieces of cloth that were almost as painful to my eyes as the council tent was. Sebastian beckoned me down. I held my breath and went under, closing my inner eyelids so I could see underwater. Which do you like, Sebastian asked. I looked around, and found one that was black with crimson and malachite swirls near the bottom edges. I looked at it intensely before heading back to the surface. He ended up getting it for 7 cockle shells. He handed me the green pouch of cockle shells and drag the tent through the water.
     We got to shore and I climbed out, shivering but delighted that I figured out how to swim. I sniffed the little pouch and looked at one of the cockle shells. They were captivating. Sebastian climbed out of the water with the tent in tow.
     "I'm gonna go put this near mine. You go get your things," he told me. I nodded and pranced to my tent, jumping over the grass with the little back thumping into me as I did so. When I got to the temporary tent I was staying in, I rolled the pillow into my blanket, making a very dry and compact bundle with my little paws. I had dried my feet before touching my things. I shoved the bundle in my bag with my nose. I grabbed a strap with my mouth and waited for Sebastian to come for me.
     I was dry when he finally came. I hadn't been waiting long though; I was just black so I dried faster. He laughed when he saw me with the bag in my mouth. I was very fuzzy from the air drying. I gave him an indignant look at his laughing and he went to pick me up, stopping when I growled at him. He raised his hands in surrender and walked off. I followed, jumping in the grass like I did earlier. However, the bag hindered my movement. I stopped and set my things down. I shifted to my humanaria, grabbing my bag and cockle shell pouch. I jogged after Sebastian. I was relieved when I reached the tent. It was nearly dusk now. I dropped my things in the suspiciously dry tent and made the bed. I was still barefoot, the ground here being covered with grass and quite comfortable. I collapsed into my bed from the exhaustion of the day and murmured good night to Sebastian. I dreamed about swimming with him again.

-_________________________________________-

Ok guys. So this one is over 2000 words. I have no idea how long my bursts of creativity leading to the super long chapters is gonna last. I hope you loved it my land sharks. So, I hadn't originally planned this, but what do you all think of her seeing her brother again. Because I kind of want her to. So you guys tell me what you think and I will see you all next week or Friday at my Random Stories. Love you all and thanks for so much support! 0)